No one could believe what they had seen. Angel Island, the once majestic floating home of Knuckles and Kat, now sitting in a sea of fiery water.
"Is that… Angel Island…?" Kat let out.
"I… I think so," Knuckles responded. "How could this have happened?"
"I don't know," Sonic admitted, shaking his head to stay focused. "Whatever happened to the island, we have to get over there."
"Any idea as to how?" Keith asked. "I don't think that water is safe to ride out on."
"Hey, we got an entire base full of Eggman tech and a handful of the smartest people on the planet," Sonic reminded. "If anyone can get us over there, it's them."
"I'm willing to try if you guys are," Tails declared. "You guys?"
"Not like we have any other options," Chessie commented.
"Guess we're building a boat then," Rouge declared.
"Let's look around for any supplies we can get a hold of," Keith instructed. "We can start here then look around the city."
"Sounds like a plan," Shadow noted. "Let's get to work."
…
Back in the present, Amy and her team were trying to fend off attacks from the octopus bot, still piloted by a newly christened Eggatha. She continued firing missiles and striking with her claws, all the while, chuckling in a sinister fashion.
"This! Is so! Much! Fun!" she cried out, pressing buttons willy nilly.
Cream and Cheese flew through the air rapidly, hoping to stay ahead of Eggatha's missile attacks. At one point, Cheese was about to get hit by a missile, but Cream was able to pull him away just in time.
"Are you ok, Cheese?" Cream asked, causing him to chirp in response.
He then chirped in a frantic manner, causing Cream to turn and see a missile heading straight for them. Before it could hit though, a green aurora surrounded it, causing the two to look up and see Silver hovering above them. He then launched the missile in the opposite direction, hitting an oncoming Swatbot as a result.
"Thank you Mr. Silver," Cream responded.
"You bet," Silver replied. "Now let's give this girl trouble!"
Cream nodded as she and Cheese charged at the robot, with Silver following right behind her. Down on the ground, Amy used her hammer to bat away oncoming tentacle strikes as Blaze blasted Swatbots away with her fire powers.
"These things are coming at us too fast!" Blaze declared.
"You're telling me!" Amy replied, ducking under a tentacle strike before leaping over another.
She rolled on the ground before spinning around and swinging her hammer. Just then, one of the arms shot its claw out and tried to grab hold of her hammer, causing Amy to skid across the snow.
"Hey!" she cried out. "Let go!"
Watching from a safe distance, Elise could only feel helplessness as the situation played out before her. She looked across the battlefield, hoping to find something that could help them. As she did, she spotted a downed Swatbot armed with a rocket launcher. She ran over to the robot, picking up the rocket arm while having tremendous difficulty lifting it. She worked to aim the rocket at the arm that was pulling on Amy's hammer. She then found a button on the underside of the launcher, pressing it and causing it to fire. The kickback caused Elise to fall back into the snow as the rocket soared through the air, hitting the arm and allowing Amy to pull her hammer free. She turned towards Elise as she picked herself up, flashing her a smile before charging back at the octopus bot.
Up in the air, Cream and Silver continued to evade the onslaught of attacks being dealt to them from above. Cream even grabbed hold of Cheese and threw him right towards the windshield of the mech. Cheese rolled into a ball, spinning towards the windshield as he collided with it, cracking it.
"Hey!" Eggatha let out. "Leave off the glass! I'm pretty sure it's expensive!"
"No way!" Cream yelled back. "You're trying to hurt my friends!"
"Your 'friends' are trying to ruin my uncle's plans! Which means he'll get mad, and I won't get to have my fun!"
Eggatha pressed a few more buttons, shooting a claw out towards Cream. Seeing this, Silver darted forward, pushing Cream out of the way just as the claw came up, causing Silver to take the hit.
"Silver!" Cream cried out as he sailed towards the ground.
Cream then turned back towards Eggatha, slowly brimming with anger.
"Why do you have to be so mean!" Cream cried out, flying towards her.
Eggatha shot out several more claws, but Cream dodged and weaved between them, managing to land a hit on the windshield as Cheese flew alongside her, hitting at the same time. Their combined efforts managed to break the windshield, causing Eggatha to shield her face as glass flew everywhere. As Eggatha uncovered her face, she looked up to see Cream and Cheese hovering over her.
"What? Are you two supposed to intimidate me?"
"We just want you to stop attacking us," Cream demanded, Cheese chirping in a matter of fact tone as well.
"Oh, of course," Eggatha replied before suddenly pulling a lever. "Not!"
Just then, a claw shot out and grabbed both of them, much to their shock. Down on the ground, Amy and Blaze looked up in horror.
"Cream! Cheese!" Amy cried out.
"Let them go, Agatha!" Blaze demanded.
"It's Eggatha, remember?!" Eggatha reminded the cat. "And I might… if the Queen comes quietly!"
"Oh please," Amy retorted. "If you're half as rotten as Eggman, you'll just take us all out by the time you get Elise back."
"Maybe I will, maybe I won't. Wanna try me?"
Meanwhile, Silver slowly managed to pick himself up, noticing something buried underneath the snow. He brushed it aside, revealing the silver Chaos Emerald sitting there. He picked it up, feeling its power coming over him. He then turned towards the octopus bot, seeing Cream and Cheese being held captive. Silver then took off towards them, sending a psychokinetic wave of energy that severed the arm, allowing Cream and Cheese to fly free.
"Hey!" Eggatha cried out. "No fair!"
She then fired several missiles towards Silver. He seemed unphased by the attack, simply dodging and weaving between the shots. He even grabbed hold of one and shot it towards the mech, taking out another one of its arms and causing it to wobble. Seeing him at work, Amy came up with an idea before running towards him.
"Silver!" she called out, tossing her hammer towards him.
He caught it with his powers, and then sent it speeding towards the octopus bot. It collided with the mech repeatedly, denting it over and over continuously. Eggatha kept getting jostled around repeatedly from the seemingly endless barrage of hits against the hull. Just as she shook her head to clear the cobwebs, she looked up to see the hammer coming right towards the open windshield, causing her to yelp before hitting the eject button. It launched her out of the mech just as the hammer collided with the inside, destroying the control panel and causing the mech to topple over, crashing into the snow. Silver dropped to the ground, releasing his hold over Amy's hammer and letting it fall.
"Nice moves out there Silver," Amy commended, scooping up her hammer as she turned to him.
"Thanks…" Silver commended. "I don't think I've ever been able to move like that," he looked down at the Emerald. "At least before this…"
"A Chaos Emerald? It was buried right in front of Eggman's base? I'm surprised he didn't even notice."
"Must have been busy with other things… back where we come from, the Chaos Emeralds only existed in stories. To actually hold one, much less wield its power… it's incredible."
"I'm sure it is," Blaze spoke up. "But we should get out of here before more of Eggman's forces show up."
"Right," Silver agreed, encompassing everyone in his powers. "Hang on!"
He quickly took off, carrying everyone behind him. As they left, Eggatha slowly parachuted to the ground, wincing at the heroes' escape.
"Oooh boy. Uncle Ivo's not gonna like this…"
…
"So not only did you let the four of them escape with the Queen," Robotnik recalled after Eggatha explained everything. "But they managed to swipe a Chaos Emerald from under my doorstep that I didn't even know was there?!"
"Well, uh…" Eggatha began to reply, moving her foot in a circle nervously. "Y-yeah, kinda."
Robotnik growled a little in response. "When I brought you on, I did tell you that I expected the best from my underlings, did I not?"
"Yeah… you did."
Robotnik got out of his chair and walked over to her. "Then it should come as no surprise that I am not particularly happy when my underlings fail to meet that standard."
"Uh…" Eggatha replied, slowly backing up. "well, I'm sure Stone screwed up worse."
"He'd better. Otherwise-"
"Doctor!" Stone let out, entering the room and causing Robotnik to groan.
"Can't you come back later?" Robotnik asked, turning towards him. "I'm getting in touch with my inner disciplinarian here."
"It's… urgent, sir."
Robotnik groaned again as he walked over to him. "Alright, what is it? Did you at least retrieve the Scepter?"
"Well, uh… no, sir."
Robotnik perked up at that. "You let Shadow and his commando cronies take the Scepter back?"
"Well… not exactly. You see it kinda… broke."
"Broke… you mean to tell me you dropped a vital part of my plan for world domination?!"
"Well, no, Rouge did when one of the robots-"
Robotnik cut him off by grabbing his lower jaw, pulling him in close.
"Do you know what the hardest part is about being the smartest man on not one world, but two?" Robotnik asked. "Go ahead, think it through. I'll give you a minute."
"...everyone else is stupid?" Stone asked in a muffled voice.
"Yes! Way to go! You got that one!" Robotnik then let him go, brushing his hand against his jacket. "Did any of the Swatbots record what happened?"
"Uh… yes. One moment."
Stone went off for a moment, allowing Robotnik to turn back to a much more relaxed Eggatha.
"Looks like you're off the hook," Robotik allowed. "This time."
"I do have one thing in my favor."
"Oh? And what might that be?"
She pulled out a small screen device, shaking it in her hand. "I managed to plant a tracking device on the Queen before the good guys showed up."
Robotnik perked up at that, sauntering over and snatching the device to look it over.
"Now that is forward thinking. And I have to admit, throwing Stone under the bus to buy yourself time was a nice touch." He patted her on the head, causing her to smile. "I may have underestimated you."
"I know. I get that alot."
"Sir," Stone let out, coming back in with a tablet. "The footage."
Robotnik took the tablet and let the footage play out, intrigued by the presence of Mephiles as he transported Team Dark away.
"Interesting," Robotnik noted. "The primordial darkness has taken physical form."
"But why does he look like Shadow?" Eggatha wondered, standing on her tiptoes to see.
"Still working on that," Stone admitted. "We're trying to triangulate Team Dark's position, but-"
"Don't bother," Robotnik told him. "Knowing Shadow, he'll show back up soon enough."
"And the shadow creature?"
"Another rule of super villainy, never do anything that you can't encourage a hero to do themselves. It's called outsourcing. In the meantime, we need to focus our efforts on retrieving Queen Elise."
"How do you wish for us to proceed?" Stone asked, standing at attention.
"Not alone," Robotnik replied, taking a seat in his command chair and pressing a few buttons. "When the opportunity to reclaim our prize presents itself, I'm having an old trump card front and center to make sure you two get the job done right."
Just then, a panel on the ceiling opened up, allowing a metal tube to slowly drop down towards them. The two human underlings backed away as they saw who was inside through the glass door. They stood in silence as one of the doors opened, allowing Bokkun to walk in as he was munching on some popcorn.
"Hey guys. What's going-"
He suddenly stopped, seeing the tube and the occupant inside of it; Metal Sonic.
"Ahh!" he let out, hiding behind Robotnik. "It's Metal Sonic! He's gonna kill us all!"
"Oh calm down," Robotnik insisted, grabbing him by the head. "I've reprogrammed him so he doesn't get any more delusions of grandeur. Now all his future activities will be in the service of me."
"Impressive," Stone commended.
"Unfortunately, more of his circuitry was damaged during his fight with Sonic and his friends. I'd fix him up myself, but I've been kept busy with this Solaris scam. So…" he turned towards Eggatha.
Her face suddenly lit up at the prospect, a humongous smile growing across her face. "No… way…!"
"Go on, get to it. And be sure you bring those two nincombots as well. I'm sure their memory reset is finished by now."
"Yes sir!"
Eggatha skipped off as two robots carried Metal Sonic's capsule. Robotnik just looked on with a sick sense of pride.
"Mother was right, I should have gotten my teaching degree."
…
Back in the future, the group decided to split off into two teams. Tails, Keith, Chessie, Hope, and Shadow stayed behind to scour the base for any useful material. Using Chessie's scans of the base from their earlier infiltration, they made their way down towards the hanger to see if there were any ships they could use. Once they got there, Tails managed to hack the hanger door, opening it up so they could get inside.
"Alright," he let out. "Let's look around and see if there's anything salvageable around here."
The others nod as they spread out, looking for anything that could serve their needs. Tails quickly went over to a ship that seemed to be intact.
"Hey, Chessie," he spoke up. "Over here."
Chessie came over and looked at the ship Tails found.
"Hull looks intact," she noted. "With a few patch jobs here and there, I think this can get us across the water."
"Possibly. Let's take a look at the interior."
Chessie whipped out a cable and pulled on the door, opening it and allowing the two inside. The interior was much worse off than the exterior, with ripped out panels and exposed wiring lining the walls of the ship, much to their chagrin.
"This is gonna be a little trickier than I thought," Tails lamented.
"Hey, when in the apocalypse, beggars can't be choosers," Chessie reminded him before poking her head out and turning towards Keith. "Keith, see if you can find any scrap metal that's in good condition."
"Oh, and wiring too," Tails added. "We might be able to salvage some of it, but a good chunk's gonna need to be fully replaced."
"On it!" Keith called back.
Keith continued moving around the base, trying to find some intact metal and wiring he could use. He made his way over to a damaged ship, trying to pull off a piece of metal off the side.
"Need a hand?" Hope asked, walking up to him.
"Uh, yeah sure."
Hope grabbed onto the piece as well and they both pulled as hard as they could, finally pulling it free.
"So… how are you holding up?" Keith asked.
"Considering we're stuck in an apocalyptic future and my cousin decided to join with a madman… it's been a struggle to say the least."
"I can imagine. I wish there was something I could say to help…" Keith looked around the ruined room. "But even I'm having a hard time trying to put a positive spin on this."
"Yeah…" Hope paused for a moment, stretching a bit. "Still, we can't just give up. Not when there's a chance of stopping the world from becoming like this."
"Right… get back and save Elise before she crashes on Eggman's ship… I just hope that's enough."
"So do I…"
As the geniuses worked, Shadow took a position on the roof of the hanger, looking down through a massive hole in the ceiling. His focus kept shifting between Chessie and Hope, wanting to protect them both. He put a hand over his heart, feeling it ache slightly whenever he looked at the human girl.
"Why… Why do I feel this… this need to protect her? Does it have to do with this… Maria?" A flash of a blurry face flickered in his mind "Maria… why does that name… bother me so much?"
As he thought to himself, Shadow was unaware that someone was watching him from the city through some kind of scope, a look of determination coming across the person's face.
…
Out in Crisis City, Sonic, Knuckles, Kat, Rouge, and Topaz walked around the ruined metropolis, taking in the amount of desolation around him.
"You don't think… this is our future, do you?" Kat wondered. "Is this really the result of the worlds combining?"
"I… I don't know…" Knuckles lamented.
"Well, I don't think so," Sonic commented.
"What makes you so certain?"
"Call me an optimist. The future may suck now, but that doesn't mean we can't change it, right? We're here. We know what goes down. All we have to do is get back and stop it."
"I get the feeling it's not gonna be that simple," Topaz commented, still looking up at the buildings.
"If I wanted the easy life, I would've stayed on South Island. By the way, what are you looking for?"
"There's supposed to be people in this city, right?" Topaz asked, causing the others to nod. "Well, I just find it a little odd we haven't seen anyone."
"Maybe they're hiding from that Iblis creature," Knuckles assumed.
"I know I would be," Rouge declared, surveying the wreckage. "This kind of devastation would send anyone scurrying underground."
"Yeah, not exactly prime real estate," Sonic added, looking out at the city skyline. "It's amazing anyone's lived through all this."
"Silver said there were some survivors," Kat recalled. "Maybe they have some kind of bunker or something somewhere?"
"It's a s good a place to start as any," Sonic agreed, heading down a street and motioning to the others. "Come on, let's start down this way."
The others followed after, unsure of what could be waiting for them in this dark world. As they made their way down the street, they were unaware of several pairs of eyes peeking out of the windows and watching them move through the city.
…
Back in the present, Amy sent a text message to Chuck and Dr. Birnbaum that they had rescued Elise and were heading back to the city. They waited at the city gates, with Helen and Vanilla, patiently hoping they were alright.
"Has there been any more word from them?" Vanilla asked.
"Nothing yet," Chuck informed. "Don't worry, Vanilla. I'm sure Amy is making sure Cream and the others are safe."
"I'm also concerned about everyone else," Dr. Birnbaum admitted. "After all, we have no idea where Sonic and his friends have gone."
"Yes…" Chuck allowed, grimacing. "I haven't heard from Keith or Kat either… we'll just have to hold out hope that they're safe… it's all we can do right now."
"Maybe, but-" Dr. Birnbaum cut herself off, seeing Amy and the others quickly approaching. "Wait, there they are!"
The others looked up to see Silver carrying everyone towards the gate, slowly putting them down in front of the adults. Vanilla didn't waste a second running over and hugging Cream when she touched down.
"Oh Cream!" she let out. "I was so worried about you! What were you thinking going into that place?!"
"I'm sorry," Cream replied, hugging her back. "I just wanted to make sure Sonic was ok… I didn't want to lose any more friends."
"Silver got us out of there," Amy commended. "We wouldn't have escaped if it wasn't for him.. And he was able to nab a Chaos Emerald as well."
"Is that right?" Chuck noted.
"Uh… yeah," Silver confirmed, rubbing the back of his head. "Like Cream, I didn't wanna lose anyone else. I guess the Chaos Emerald didn't want that either.."
"From what we've learned about these gems, the power of the Emeralds is amplified by the heart of the one who holds it. It must have sensed your desire to protect and increased your own natural power."
"Well what I desire the most is to know Sonic's okay," Amy admitted, looking concerned. "Elise, tell them what you told us."
"Right," Elise replied. "Dr. Robotnik created his own version of the Solaris Project. He means to use it to control time itself… and used it to send Sonic and the others through time."
"What?!" Chuck let out as the others went wide eyed. "Where? When?"
"I don't know. He's still calibrating the machine. He says he needs more Chaos Emeralds to make it work."
Silver looked down at the one in his hand. "All the more reason to keep this one safe."
"Agreed," Dr. Birnbaum concurred before turning back to Elise. "Your highness, we should get you out of the city in case Robotnik tries to attack again. Is there somewhere else you can stay until we deal with this?"
Elise grimaced. "I do not like the idea of leaving my kingdom unattended and undefended. It feels cowardly and wrong."
"I know it may seem that way," Blaze spoke up, "but if Robotnik discovers you're not here, he'll have no reason to attack. If anything, you would be protecting your people by leading Robotnik's forces away."
Elise pondered Blaze's words, wondering if she might be right about the prospect.
"Well… as long as it's to keep everyone safe… there is a summer cottage my family used to stay at. On the other side of the forest."
"That should work fine," Chuck replied. "Come on, we'd better get going."
"The fastest way to get there is by train," Elise informed him. "It should be easy to procure tickets."
"Lead the way," Amy proclaimed as they all headed off.
…
Back in the future, the smart team continued working on the ship, Tails placing a control console in place as Keith and Chessie were attaching the proper wiring.
"There, that should do it," Keith declared.
"Think this thing will actually fly?" Hope asked, locking another panel into place.
"It should," Chessie replied. "Eggman's tech is pretty durable, so it should hold long enough to reach the island. What we find there will be an entirely different story."
"Agreed," Keith concurred. "There's no telling what'll be waiting for us when we get there."
"It's a chance we'll have to take," Tails replied, taking a seat. "Let's see what this thing can do."
Tails pressed a button, trying to power up the ship, only for it to sputter out and die after a few seconds.
"That's not good…" Tails dreaded.
Chessie opened up a panel, causing some to blow out in her face and make her cough in response. "Looks like the power cells are cooked. We're gonna need a new power source for this thing if we wanna get it off the ground."
"Where would we even find a power cell around here?" Hope wondered.
"Maybe we can find a Chaos Emerald," Tails suggested. "Assuming they still exist…"
"I'll contact Kat and the others and let them know to keep an eye out," Keith told them before activating his watch. "Kat, do you read me?"
The reception was staticy, but he managed to make her out. "Kinda. What's up?"
"We got a ship together, but it needs power. We need you guys to find something we can use. Generator, Chaos Emerald, anything."
"We'll see what we can do, but there's not a lot here."
"Just do what you can. And… be careful."
…
"Will do," Kat reassured, hanging up and turning to the others. "Keith says we need to find a power source for the ship. Otherwise, we're stuck."
"Then we'd better get searching," Sonic declared. "Knuckles, that Emerald sense picking up anything?"
"I…. I can't tell," Knuckles admitted, walking around to get a feel of the place. "There's… something all around us. It's throwing off my ability to sense the energy of the Emeralds. I can barely detect the Master Emerald from here."
"Guessing whatever this Iblis thing is, it's throwing off your Chaos know-how," Rouge remarked. "I on the other hand don't need tricks to sniff out a Chaos Emerald without any fancy tricks."
She then took off into the air, getting a good view of the area and spot any potential places to find an Emerald. As she looked around, she caught sight of some kids running down the street a couple of blocks away.
"What on…" Rouge let out in surprise before turning back to the others. "Hey, I found someone!"
"You did?!" Topaz responded.
"Found some kids running down the street about two or three blocks over," Rouge replied, flying back down. "They might be able to help us."
"Best lead we've had yet," Sonic responded. "Come on!"
Sonic instantly took off down the street, the others quickly following after in hopes that they could escape this nightmare world.
…
After a few moments of flickering on and off, Orbot and Cubot's optic sensors powered on, both of them getting acclimated to their surroundings as they looked around.
"Where are we?" Orbot asked. "How did we get here?"
"I give up, how did we?" Cubot replied.
"That's the thing, I don't know. There's a blank in my memory bank over the last few weeks. It's worse than the Doctor's three day weekend in Casino Night Zone."
"What happens in Casino Night Zone, stays in Casino Night Zone."
"Hey!" Eggatha's voice called out, causing the two to turn and see her working on Metal Sonic on a work table. "Can you two stop running your voice boxes and give me a hand?"
The two stared in complete surprise before letting out panicked screams and dove for cover under the table.
"Yeesh, what's with you two?" Eggatha asked.
"Forgive us, but that is Metal Sonic," Orbot informed. "He is a very dangerous and intimidating machine."
"Yeah, and it's a bad robot," Cubot added.
"Oh relax. He's completely harmless right now. In fact, I'm trying to get some repairs done on him and could use a hand."
"I'm sorry…" Orbot responded. "Who are you?"
"She's my new protege," Robotnik answered, entering the room and getting their attention. "And from now on, you two will answer to her."
"But… when did she arrive here? Our memory cores seem to be… fuzzy."
"You two got your circuits scrambled in Murasia. I only just now got you two back online. During that time, I recruited her."
"And now we're her new best friends?" Cubot assumed.
"More like… playthings," Robotnik corrected. "You two will serve her every need whenever, wherever. And you'd best treat her with respect. She's already on her way to being my number two."
Eggatha gasped in response, getting starry eyed as she turned to him. "Really?"
"I thought I was your number two," Orbot responded.
"Oh please," Robotnik remarked. "I'd need a computer to figure out where you fall in the pecking order." He then pulled out a laptop. "Fortunately I have one here," he typed away, finally coming up with a number. "Three hundred and forty seven."
Orbot's face dropped as a response.
"How about me, boss?" Cubot asked.
"It was three hundred and forty six-"
"Wait, Cubot ranks higher than me?" Orbot questioned.
"He makes a good latte. Or did."
"Did?" Cubot questioned. "But who-?"
"Here you are, sir," Stone spoke up, entering the room with a coffee cup in hand. "Just finished steaming your Austrian Goats Milk."
Robotnik took the cup and gave it a sip.
"Ah, that's the stuff," he let out, getting a taste. "Is that nutmeg I'm tasting?"
"Cinemacon actually. Gives it a little flavor."
"Mmm. Tastes like…victory."
Cubot was so dumbstruck, his jaw actually dropped so hard it detached from its head and fell to the floor.
"Now you three get back to work," Robotnik ordered. "I want Metal Sonic operational as soon as possible."
"You got it Uncle Ivo!" Eggatha declared, saluting in response.
Robotnik just smiled as he and Stone walked off, the doors shutting behind them as Orbot reattached Cubot's jaw.
"Orbot…" Cubot spoke as his jaw got reattached. "Have we been replaced?"
"Yes… I believe so," Orbot responded.
…
Back in the future, Shadow was looking out on the edge of the roof, thinking to himself about everything that had been happening. Mephiles, the dystopian future, Hope, all flooded through his head as he tried to make sense of it all. As he opened his eyes, he looked up, towards the city, catching a glint of something in one of the windows. His eyes widened before he leapt off of the roof, narrowly dodging a sniper shot that was aimed for him. Right as he touched down on the ground, he took off like a shot, dodging and weaving between the other shots intended for him. He looked up, keeping the right building in his sights as he moved towards the city.
Before he could get far however, he saw several men coming out from hiding and blocked his path. One reached into his coat pocket and drew out a sword. He pressed a button on the hilt, causing the blade itself to begin vibrating as he took a swing at Shadow. The black hedgehog quickly dropped down and slid under the blade before getting back to his feet on the other side of him. The other men quickly drew some kind of advanced firearms, aiming them and Shadow and firing laser blasts at him. Shadow saw this and quickly teleported away, reappearing next to one of the men so he could punch him across the face. He then teleported right up to the other one so he could kick him in the chest, knocking him back. As he landed, the man with the vibroblade turned towards him and prepared to take another swing, only for Shadow to fire a Chaos Spear and the blade, breaking it in half.
"Enough," Shadow demanded. "Why are you attacking me?"
"How can you ask that?!" the man declared in fury. "After everything you've done! Everything you've destroyed!"
"Destroyed?"
Before Shadow could inquire any further, several more men came out of the shadows and alleyways, each armed with weapons as advanced as the others.
"I don't know how you got free," one of the men admitted, aiming his weapon. "but you will finally answer for the destruction of our world… Shadow the Hedgehog."